A Foregone Conclusion
by OverlyDramatic
Summary: An important meeting is taking place, and neither of the participants particularly wants to be there.


I feel kind of bad, because I've been neglecting my writing of late. I haven't written anything in nearly a month. Ideas come, but never get finished. School has drained me of all creativity. So pardon me if this is crap. I've always been torn about this kind of fic. A few reviews have asked for continuations of some of my one-shots, so here is a sequel of sorts to Guess Who's Coming to Conclusions. But it's not necessary to read the other one, so maybe it's just slightly related. Takes place five-ish years later.

**Disclaimer: If it was mine, wouldn't I be off doing something important? Or sleeping?**

The two men were sitting in opposing chairs, staring each other down across the coffee table. While neither stare held a threat, both were vaguely uncomfortable; one leaned more toward the expectant side while the other appeared interested but stern. The host broke the silence first.

"I never took you as one for propriety, Mr. Venturi," he stated, raising an eyebrow as he studied the young man sitting casually across from him.

"I never took you for one to accept it otherwise," Derek responded with the twitch of a grin. The kid knew how to work people. Or maybe not quite a kid anymore. Not that he ever was, as far as the older man was concerned.

"True," he nodded, keeping the smile from his face. This was business, after all. On his end, anyway.

"Besides, I didn't want you to get the message later with a note in the mail. You might feel left out," Derek added wryly.

He gave Derek a pointed look. "A little confident, don't you think? What makes you so certain I have anything to worry about?" He knew as well as Derek, but felt it necessary to keep his opponent slightly off-balance.

The young man laughed, a smirk settling on his lips and a twinkle shifting to his eyes. "She'll say yes," Derek said casually, confidently. He couldn't help but wonder internally at how calm and collected Derek was. But then again, Derek was never like any of his daughter's other suitors. No, he was definitely different. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing was yet to be determined, but he had a suspicious feeling it was the former. "I mean, really. Why wouldn't she?" Derek added smoothly, overcoming the slightly apprehensive set in his shoulders with a practiced ease the older man only recognized from personal experience. It was a good skill to have.

Shaking off the desire to talk male with Derek—the situation was altogether wrong for that sort of thing, no matter how much he wanted to agree with the charismatic young man—he looked frankly at his guest. "Well, if it's a foregone conclusion, there's really no need for my input, is there?" And it was a foregone conclusion, he knew. He had known before Derek had, before his daughter had; before anyone had, really. It was nice sometimes to have an outsider's point of view. Depending on your of whether it was nice to know such things about your daughter's love life. It had caused him less anxiety than it would others, but no one blindly accepted their daughter's romances.

Derek shrugged, "You know she'll never agree otherwise," and he nodded in agreement. Unlike this impish young man, his daughter wasn't one to throw rules and traditions away casually.

"And what makes you think I'll agree?" he asked, drawing out the conversation for the sake of principle.

"Come on," Derek defended. "You and I both know you have no problem with it. You like me, and I like you. No need to complicate things with all those girly evasion tactics." Then, because of the protective look in the other man's eyes, he added, "You know I'll take care of her," in a tone, while completely lacking in any sort of mushiness, that said it should have been a given.

He gave in and nodded, reassured by the admission and grateful the other man hadn't made things awkward with talks of feelings. Best to avoid that sort of thing unless it was unsure or unknown. Which it most definitely was not, on either count.

"Okay," he said simply, a slight sigh in his voice as he dropped the serious façade. Derek's face spread with a grin—traces of relief evident despite all his bravado—and he was reminded of a similar situation a little over twenty years earlier, when he was on the other side of the conversation.

"I knew you'd see it my way," Derek asserted, sitting up slightly, as the need for practiced casualness had disappeared. "Everyone does, eventually."

"If you keep talking like that, I may have to reconsider," he cautioned, but they both knew he didn't mean it by the friendly grin that slid across his features.

Derek didn't stay for idle talk about sports or jokes about life with women as he usually would have. There was one purpose to this meeting, and it had been fulfilled. No need to stick around and make things awkward. They exchanged goodbyes, and both were glad when Derek stood to leave.

"Derek," he called out as an afterthought as the young man made his way back across the room, away from the chairs and his host. Derek stopped on his trek to the door and turned expectantly. He added a warning element to his voice, and for all of his assurances there was no speciousness when he sternly advised, "If you hurt her, I _will_ hurt you."

Derek nodded understandingly. "You've got nothing to worry about," he promised, then reconsidered. "Pissing her off doesn't count, right? Cause there's no avoiding that," he added. His expression said he rather liked it too much to avoid it anyway.

"Just keep her happy when I'm around and you'll be fine," he retorted.

"No promises," Derek grinned, grabbing the things he had dropped just inside the door. The other man leaned back in his chair, relieved to have the meeting over with. "Hey Dennis," Derek called out, hand on the doorknob. He glanced up to watch the young man, curious. "Thanks," Derek said quickly, honestly, before grabbing his things and scurrying out the door. Dennis smiled. He had nothing to worry about. Nora, on the other hand, would not have a pleasant few months, he though with an ironic smile.

**NNNNNNNNNN**

I hope all those "he"s weren't confusing. I thought it would make it more interesting, but I'm sure everyone who read my other story knew what I was talking about. I've never done a proposal related fic before, so I'm kinda out of my comfort zone. But I was inspired and I figured that, while these fics are fairly common, there were no LWD ones yet. Besides, it was 3 am. Hope it turned out alright. Like it, hate it…let me know.


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